3 Days Road Trip in Vancouver Island
This 3 days road trip covers most of the popular attractions in Vancouver Island. To reach Vancouver Island, you could either take the sea or air route. For sea route, there are 2 main ports of arrival in Vancouver Island – Nanaimo and Swartz Bay. For air route, the biggest airport will be Victoria International Airport (YYJ). I took the sea route for this trip so the following itinerary starts from Swartz Bay and ends at Nanaimo.
Summary of this itinerary:
A. Day 1 – Victoria
B. Day 2 – Tofino
C. Day 3 – Nanaimo
About Canada
Canada, located in North America region, is the second largest country ranked by total area. Canada has ten provinces and three territories which extend from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean.
The currency of Canada is Canadian Dollar (CAD).
Day 1 – Victoria
If you are travelling from Vancouver, you can board the BC ferry from Tsawwassen terminal in Vancouver and arrive in Swartz Bay terminal near Victoria. Once reached Swartz Bay terminal, it only takes a 30 min drive to reach Victoria.
On the first day, take it slow and take a stroll in the Victoria Inner Harbour Pathway. If you have extra time to spare, you can visit any of the attractions in that area (Royal BC Museum, Miniature World, British Columbia Parliament). When you are hungry, you can walk towards the Fisherman’s Wharf Park and order a fresh seafood meal from the floating stores.
The night view of British Columbia Parliament is amazing!
Day 2 – Tofino
On the second day, it is recommended to start your day early and drive towards Tofino as there are a lot of attractions along the way. Chemainus is a good rest stop if you have time and love mural arts. Otherwise, do stop at the Goats on the Roof, old country market in Coombs. It is super cool to have your lunch in the market while the goats on the roof are having their lunch (grass) as well.
Remember to check out the Coombs Emporium for cool statues.
It takes around 2.5 hours of driving from Coombs to reach Tofino. After a long road drive to Tofino, you can have your dinner at the Ice House Oyster Bar and enjoy the sunset by the bay.
Day 3 – Nanaimo
In the morning, feel free to check out any of the Tofino beach area (Chesterman Beach, Tonquin Beach and Cox Bay) and enjoy the sunrise with the beach breeze. After that, you can start to drive back to Nanaimo. Along the way back, you can make a rest stop at the Cathedral Grove and look at the magnificent few hundreds year old trees that are super tall.
Once reached Nanaimo, you can explore the town and have your lunch if you have time to spare.
Ending Remarks
Vancouver Island is bigger than what we had expected. There are certainly more attractions to see/do in Vancouver Island (This itinerary only covered the major attractions located in the south of Vancouver Island). The ideal period of travel should be at least 10 days. Looking to explore other places? Feel free to merge this trip with the 10 days road trip in Canada West Coast.